MacBook Sales Get a Boost From Spring Refresh

According to the latest data from NPD, U.S. Mac sales grew 1 percent year over year for the last month of the June quarter, after falling 13 percent in April and 23 percent in May.

Now, for the full quarter, Mac sales are still down 10 percent from the same period a year ago — according to NPD. But the fact that they’ve recovered from that 23 percent decline in May is a positive sign as we head into fall and the uptick in consumer spending that it heralds.

“We believe the momentum from the June Mac refresh will carry into the September quarter,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who published NPD’s sales data in a research note. “While the up 1 percent is not tremendous growth, we believe that the refreshed Macs will enable Apple to sustain a better growth profile in the U.S. through the back-to-school season.”

Munster, who expects Mac growth of 5 percent for the June quarter, is calling for Apple to ship 4.1 million Macs — in line with Street consensus. He sees iPhone shipments of 28 million to 29 million units last quarter, ahead of the 25- to 27-million-unit consensus, and iPad shipments of 16 million units, which is in line with the Street’s expectations.

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